Nerve Endings Firing Away

What does your local Shiv Sena shakha do when it wants to protest against certain online communities on Orkut that write derogatory on Shivaji and the Thackeray family?

Vandalize the neighborhood cyber cafe, of course!

Tsk tsk…the poor souls must think they can erase those communities if they smash the nearest computer screen. Someone please explain to them how the Internet works [via Uber Desi].

Update#1: This is getting too funny for words. Maharashtra police are now mulling over a ban on Orkut [via]. ROTFL! I swear anyone would think that the state is virtually crime-free and a haven for peace that the cops have to indulge in such petty matters. I say, go ahead….block Orkut. Please.

If the temporary Blogspot ban protests were any indication, the authorities will have a major mess on their hands because anyone and everyone in India these days is on Orkut. I for one, would love to sit out here and watch the tamasha. If there are no protests, then the public probably doesn’t deserve access to Orkut.

Update#2: Thankfully Sify, Mumbai’s largest ISP and owner of more than 1000 cyber cafes in the city has refused to block Orkut citing potential economic loss. This was expected as no sensible businessman is going to shut down the avenue that earns them their daily bread. As Mehboob Pasha, area manager of cyber cafe says, “Eighty per cent of Internet-savvy youth in the age group of 16 to 30 are members of Orkut.com. On an average, they access the site every alternative day. If I block access to the site, nobody will turn up at my Internet centres and it will affect my bread and butter.” Touche! Will Shiv Sena ever understand this basic fact of life? Hulla gulla karo lekin dhande mein khotti mat karo (protest all you like but don’t let it affect my business) – has been Mumbai’s mantra. Orkut is here to stay and any protests against it is simply going to turn people against Shiv Sena. Learn to live with it, bhau.